NORTH CAROLINA GENERAL ASSEMBLY
1963 SESSION

CHAPTER 161
HOUSE BILL 194 

AN ACT TO AMEND SECTION 13 OF CHAPTER 504 OF THE 1961 SESSION LAWS OF NORTH CAROLINA SO AS TO PLACE THE TOWN OF DALLAS UNDER MOST OF THE PROVISIONS OF ARTICLE 3, CHAPTER 160, OF THE GENERAL STATUTES OF NORTH CAROLINA.

The General Assembly of North Carolina do enact:

Section 1. Section 13 of Chapter 504 of the 1961 Session Laws of North Carolina is hereby amended by deleting same entirely and inserting in lieu thereof the following designated Sections:
"Sec. 13.1. There shall be one polling place in the Town of Dallas which shall be located at the city hall in the old Dallas courthouse.
Sec. 13.2. The board of aldermen shall select, prior to the first day of registration, a registrar for each polling place and said board may, in its discretion, appoint an assistant registrar and shall publish the name of said registrar or assistant registrar at the town hall and shall cause a notice to be served upon the registrar or assistant registrar notifying him of his appointment. If any registrar shall die or neglect to perform his duty, said governing board may appoint another in his place.
Sec. 13.3. Before entering upon the duties of his office each registrar or assistant registrar shall take an oath before some person authorized by law to administer oaths to faithfully perform the duties of his office as registrar.
Sec. 13.4. It shall be the duty of the board of aldermen to cause a registration to be made of all the qualified voters residing therein, under the rules and regulations prescribed for the registration of voters for general elections and where there has been a registration of voters, the board of aldermen may, in its discretion, order a new registration of voters; and unless a new registration shall be ordered, the election shall be held under the existing registration, with such revision as is herein provided.
Sec. 13.5. In the event a new registration is ordered the board of aldermen shall give thirty (30) days' notice thereof by advertisement in some newspaper, if there be one published in the town or city, and: if there is none so published, then in three public places in the city or town.
Sec. 13.6. Each registrar shall be furnished with registration books, and it shall be his duty to revise the registration book of his precinct in such manner that said books shall show an accurate list of the electors previously registered in such ward or precinct and still residing therein, without requiring such electors to be registered anew.
Sec. 13.7. Each registrar, or his assistant, shall, between the hours of 9:00 o'clock A. M. and 9:00 o'clock P. M. on the third, fourth and fifth Saturdays immediately preceding election, keep open said books for the registration of any new electors residing in the precinct, and be entitled to register, names who have never before been registered in such precinct or do not appear in the revised list.
Sec. 13.8. No registration shall be allowed on the day of election, but if any person shall give satisfactory evidence to the registrar and judges of election that he has become of the age of 21 years or otherwise has become qualified to register and vote since the registration books were closed for registration, he shall be allowed to register and vote. 
Sec. 13.9. On the second Saturday before the election the registration books shall be kept open at the polling place in the precinct for the inspection of the electors of the precinct, and any of such electors shall be allowed to object to the name of any person appearing on said books.
Sec. 13.10. When a person is challenged the registrar shall enter upon his books opposite the name of the person objected to the word "challenged," and the registrar shall appoint a time and place, on or before the Saturday immediately preceding election day, when he, together with the judges of election, shall hear and decide the objection, giving personal notice to the voter so objected to; and if for any cause personal notice cannot be given, then it shall be sufficient to leave a copy thereof at his residence. If any person challenged shall be found not duly qualified, the registrar shall erase his name from the books. They shall hear and determine the cause of challenge under the rules and regulations prescribed by the general law regulating elections for members of the General Assembly.
Sec. 13.11. The board of aldermen shall appoint, at least thirty (30) days before any city or town election, two judges of election, who shall be of different political parties where possible, and shall be men of good character, able to read and write, at each place of holding election in said city or town, who, before entering upon the discharge of their duties, shall take an oath, before some person authorized by law to administer oaths, to conduct the election fairly and impartially, according to the Constitution and laws of the State.
Sec. 13.12. If any vacancy shall occur on the day of election in the office of registrar, the same shall be filled by the judges of election, and if any vacancy shall occur on that day in the office of judge the same shall be filled by the registrar; vacancies occurring at any other time shall be filled by the board of aldermen.
Sec. 13.13. The judges of election shall open the polls and superintend the same until the close of election; they shall keep poll books in which shall be entered the name of every person who shall vote, and at the close of the election they shall certify the same over their proper signatures and deposit them with the board of aldermen.
Sec. 13.14. The polls shall be open on the day of election from 6:30 o'clock A. M. until 6:30 o'clock P. M. Eastern Standard Time, and no longer; and each person whose name may be registered shall be entitled to vote.
Sec. 13.15. All qualified electors, who shall have resided for thirty (30) days immediately preceding an election within the limits of any voting precinct of a city or town, and not otherwise, shall have the right to vote in such precinct for mayor and other city or town officers.
Sec. 13.16. When the election shall be finished the registrar and judges of election shall open the boxes and count the ballots, reading aloud the names of the persons which shall appear on each ballot; and if there shall be two or more ballots rolled up together, or any ballot shall contain the names of more persons than the elector has the right to vote for, or shall have a device or ornament upon it, in either of these cases such ballots shall not be numbered in taking the ballots, but shall be void; and the counting of votes shall be continued without adjournment until completed, and the result thereof declared.
Sec. 13.17. Immediately after any election the registrars shall deposit the registration books for the respective precincts with the board of aldermen.
Sec. 13.18. The registrar and judges of election in each voting precinct shall appoint one of their number to attend the meeting of the board of canvassers as a member thereof, and shall deliver to the member who shall have been so appointed the original returns of the result of the election in such precinct; and the members of the board of canvassers who shall have been so appointed shall attend the meeting of the board of canvassers, and shall constitute the board of town canvassers for such election, and a majority of them shall constitute a quorum. In towns where there is only one voting precinct, the registrar and judges of election shall, at the close of the election, declare the result thereof.
Sec. 13.19. The board of canvassers shall meet on the next day after the election at 12:00 o'clock noon, at the mayor's office, and they shall each take the oath prescribed in the general law governing elections for members of the county board of elections.
Sec. 13.20. The board of canvassers shall, at their meeting, in the presence of such electors as choose to attend, open, canvass and judicially determine the result, and shall make abstracts, stating the number of legal ballots cast in each precinct for each office, the name of each person voted for and the number of votes given to each person for each different office, and shall sign the same. It shall have power and authority to pass upon judicially all the votes relative to the election and judicially determine and declare the result of the same, and shall have power and authority to send for papers and persons and examine the latter upon oath; and in case of a tie between two opposing candidates, the result shall be determined by lot. In all other respects all elections held in any town or city shall be conducted as prescribed for the election of members of the General Assembly.
Sec. 13.21. No special election shall be held for any purpose in any county, township, city or town unless at least thirty (30) days' notice shall have been given of the same by advertisement in some newspaper published in said county, city or town, or by advertisement posted at the courthouse of the county and four other public places in such county, city or town."
Sec. 2. All laws and clauses of laws in conflict with this Act are hereby repealed.
Sec. 3. This Act shall be in full force and effect from and after its ratification.
In the General Assembly read three times and ratified, this the 5th day of April, 1963.